The Adventures Continue: Being Gay Is A-Okay
by Candace Caden
Summary: sequel to The Adventures of Gay Goth and Preppy Prat... Arthur is determined to tell Uther about his boyfriend, Merlin. Will this confession weaker an already strained relationship, or will it give the two of them the father-son relationship that they always hoped for?
1. i (don't) wanna come out

_Preppy Prat_

Arthur wasn't sure if he should be angry or relieved that the whole make-a-spectacle-out-of-myself-so-everyone-knows-about-me thing hadn't seemed to work as effectively as he had hoped. Case in point, his father. It seemed that everyone, and he meant _everyone_, knew about him... except his father. The whole school seemed to be on Arthur's side all of a sudden; no one having told Uther anything, not even the instructors, who Arthur was _sure _knew about him too. It seemed that everyone who had hated Arthur now forgave him, having assumed that Arthur had been such an ass because he was in the closet. Either that or they assumed they _must_ have been wrong about him if Merlin liked him. Arthur was pretty sure the latter was an explanation of Merlin's making.

Despite the student body now wanting to be Arthur's best friend, he felt even worse than he had when he was struggling against his connection with Merlin. He had told Merlin he would tell his father about them, and he had meant it, but the prospect of actually having such a conversation with his father was more terrifying to him than opening up to Merlin had been. He had known how Merlin felt about him, but he knew nothing about his father's feelings. It wasn't that Uther was cruel to him, cruelty would at least mean that he cared in some way, he just hardly acknowledged Arthur's existence. His lack of a relationship with his father made it impossible to know how he would react to the news. And the not knowing was what was making the prospect terrifying.

It had been a week. An _entire _week. _Only _a week. Arthur wasn't sure how to feel about it. It had felt like an eternity when he knew logically it hadn't been. Granted, Arthur had wanted to tell his father about Merlin the moment they had kissed in front of the whole school. He'd been psyching himself up for it ever since. Merlin never pushed him, told him he completely understood Arthur's difficulty. But Arthur _wanted _to tell him. He wasn't sure why this was so important to him, seeing as how he barely even talked to his father, but it _was._

He would do this. He would do this _today. _Arthur was kind of hopping that his father actually cared but was just emotionally stunted. Like a constipated care bear.

* * *

><p>REFERENCES<p>

I (don't) wanna come out -reference to Afraid by Sarah Fimm (I see this song as representing Arthur's struggle up until this point)


	2. somebody else might end up being me

_Constipated Care Bear_

Uther was sitting at his desk in his office while he looked at budget requests. He was debating if the science department's request was reasonable when there was a knock on his door.

"Enter." Uther was surprised when the door was opened to reveal his son. He was even more surprised to see that Arthur looked a little pale. He pretended not to notice or be concerned as he looked back down at the paperwork that was spread out in front of him. He's been distancing himself from his children ever since he'd lost his wife, too worried that he'd loss one of his children and experience the same heartbreak all over again. A few years ago, he had begun to wonder if any amount of distance would lessen that blow, but it had already been too late; both of his children hated him and he didn't know how to make it up to them.

Arthur continued on into his office until he was standing in front of Uther's desk. As he had been approaching he had begun to speak, "Father, I need to tell you something. It's quite important."

He was so disconnected from his children's lives that it was hard for him to guess what it was Arthur would want to tell him. He decided to go with the one thing that he actually knew about and may warrant such a response. "Is it that you're struggling to maintain your position as valedictorian, because I already know. I'm not angry, I knew this Emrys boy would challenge you, but I fully expect you to do your best in maintaining your position."

"Um, well. Okay. That's good to hear... I guess. I'm doing my absolute best, father, but I really don't know who will win out between us. That's not what I wanted to tell you, though. But it does involve him."

"Him?" Uther questioned, not quite following his son.

"Merlin," Arthur clarified.

"Oh, you've met then? Well, I suppose you would have, him being a new student and all. What is it?"

"This may come as a bit of a shock," Arthur insisted.

Uther raised an eyebrow but didn't raise his gaze from the paperwork on his desk.

"He's my boyfriend," Arthur blurted.

Uther stopped what he was doing and raised his head, staring at Arthur intensely. Arthur's voice had wobbled when he'd spoken. It was something that Uther had never heard from his son before.

Looking as if he were about to faint, Arthur promptly plopped down into a nearby chair. At Uther's continued silence he dropped his head between his knees, wishing he could escape the room but knowing he couldn't stand right now, even if he wanted to.

Finally Uther said, "Are you quite alright? You look faint."

At the complete lack of anger, disgust, or whatever it was Arthur had been expecting in Uther's voice, Arthur had lifted his head to look at his father. He looked rather concerned.

"Did you forget to eat lunch or something? Not drinking enough water?"

Arthur stared at him, dumbfounded. After a few seconds he finally asked, "Did you not hear what I said?"

"I'm assuming you mean prior to acting like you were going to faint? Yes, I heard you quite clearly. Were you really so worried about telling me you're dating Mr. Emrys that you nearly collapsed in my office? Is there something I don't know about him? Obnoxious? Rude? Unconvicted serial arsonist?"

"Um..." Arthur said dumbly, "He's a _he._"

Uther looked at him strangely for a moment then said, "Yes, very keen, son." He sounded so much like Merlin in that moment that it made Arthur's head spin for a brand new reason.

"So..." Arthur drew out, trying to think this through. "You're not... bothered?"

Uther would never admit it out loud, but he was hurt by his son's state. The fact that Arthur had been so afraid to tell him this, that he was so certain he would be disappointed in him... Uther felt the unbearable need to explain his actions, something he rarely ever did. He kept his expression blank and did his best to keep his voice flat as he began explaining himself. "That boy is incredibly intelligent; going places for sure. He may have an interesting... fashion sense, but he seemed well-mannered. Well, he hates me, but most people do. He wasn't very happy about coming here, but graduating from Camelot will really pave the way for him to get into any college he wants. Not that he's not smart enough to do that on his own, but his mother expressed the need for finances and I was able to offer the assurance that colleges would undoubtedly give a full-ride scholarship to a genius-level Camelot graduate. Unfortunately, kids in the same position as Mr. Emrys that graduate from public schools aren't always as fortunate. They just get overlooked. A shame really. That's why I recruited him."

"You... so he..." Arthur blinked a few times before standing up abruptly. "This was a lovely conversation, father, we should talk more often." Then he turned and strode back out of the room.

* * *

><p>REFERENCES<p>

somebody else might end up being me -Afraid by The Neighborhood


End file.
